On Second Glance
by Nine Bright Shiners
Summary: AU from S4E1&E7 onwards. Beth will never forget the day the Governor turned up outside the prison, blind and desolate, a young woman leading him by the arm. Now calling himself Philip Blake, it is clear there is nothing left of 'the Governor' in him. Slowly but surely, Beth finds herself growing closer to him as she helps him recover from physical and emotional wounds. Beth/Philip
1. Chapter 1

_A/N: This story is a sequel to my story_ Too Far Gone _, but it is perfectly possible to read this story without first reading the other one._

 _A brief summary of_ Too Far Gone: _terrible things happen to the Governor while he is with Lilly, Tara and Meghan Chambler, doing his utmost to keep them safe. Along with the rest of Martinez's group, they go to Terminus in search of refuge. Lilly and Meghan wind up dead; and the Governor loses his remaining eye in grief and guilt. He tells Tara everything about his past, and she takes him to Rick's prison. The Governor now calls himself Philip Blake. Rick is convinced that there is nothing left of the Governor side of the man, and allows Philip and Tara into the prison, initially for a short rest, but eventually letting them stay to live there._

 _This story will have a different timeline to that implied by the prologue and epilogue of_ Too Far Gone: _it's a very loose sequel._

 _ **To note:**_ _in this story, the plague/infection at the prison never happens. I enjoyed that part of the show, but as it doesn't add anything to my story I've decided to disregard those episodes. Life is uneventful and 'normal' at the prison … until the Governor and Tara show up outside the gates._

 _This is the first time I've tried my hand at a 'Bethernor' story. I fell in love with this pairing after reading LadyIngenue's_ They Seek Him Here _and_ Doctor Blake and Mr Hyde. _I will do my best to do it justice._

 _Thanks to LadyIngenue for all her help with the inception of this story, and her insightful notes on this chapter._

* * *

 _She sat just like the others at the table.  
But on second glance, she seemed to hold her cup  
a little differently as she picked it up._

– ' _Going Blind' – Rainer Maria Rilke  
_

 **Chapter 1**

'I'm going to tend to his eye now. I want you to come with me, Beth.'

Herschel didn't need to clarify who his intended patient was. An hour previously the man who had once been the Governor had been brought into the prison, along with a young woman he must have met since Woodbury. Herschel had explained that their stay would initially last no more than a few days, but it could be extended indefinitely depending on how the trial period went.

The news had generally been received with grim silence. No one had forgotten all the things the Governor had done. But the Council had voted; and he would be blind, and weapon-less. There was nothing more he could do to them, Herschel had insisted. 'I know that every one of you remembers the things he's done – done to your friends and family.' He was silent for a while, remembering no doubt just what the Governor had done to his own family. Then he spoke sternly. 'But that's just it. "Done." That was then, and this is now. I want you to remember that.'

Beth had listened in silence.

Now he looked at her with infinite patience. 'Will you come?'

'Yes, Daddy.' She kissed his cheek briefly then held his arm as they left Cell Block C. As they crossed the entrance yard she felt a vivid sense of déjà vu. Just over an hour earlier all forty or so of the prison's inhabitants had gathered around the edges of the open space to watch as Rick and Daryl escorted in the two strangers.

The distrust and malcontent in the air had been palpable. Many faces showed anger, some fear. But all Beth had been able to feel, as she gazed at that mutilated face, the sightless eyes hidden behind dirtied bandages, was pity.

What had happened to him?

Rick had spoken sternly, his chin jutting, fixing each person present with his steely blue gaze. 'Here's what's going to happen. I'm taking these two to Cell Block A, where they'll stay for four days, enough time to recover from their journey. As you can see, they're in pretty bad shape.'

The man who had been the Governor remained impassive, only the bunching of his jaw betraying emotion. He was tall and broad, taller than any other man in the prison. He held himself stiffly, as if apart from everything. His head was slightly bowed, but did not turn. If he felt the suspicion directed at him from every side his set expression gave no sign of it.

'While they're there, they're to be left alone. There'll be a guard outside at all times. No visitors but Herschel and myself. We'll bring them food and anything else they need. None of you have to come into contact with them.'

For the first time Beth looked at the young woman. What must she think – what must she feel to be treated like a pariah, lumped in with this man she must have protected with her life, while he was intensely vulnerable. What was it that had brought them together? And what was it that kept her with him, when his blindness meant she risked death every second of the day?

The tension was so thick that Beth felt herself grow faint.

'All right,' said Rick. And he gestured to the young woman, who took the blind man's arm and began to lead him after Rick, Daryl on their heels, his crossbow still in hand.

No one spoke until the group had left the yard.

* * *

As she and Herschel walked towards Cell Block A, where the two strangers were being kept, Beth wished she could question Herschel about what the Governor had said to persuade the Council to take him in. But she knew that her father would say that those words were the Governor's business alone – and he would be right.

Only a week had passed since she had gone to her father with the intention of training as a nurse. Life at the prison had been good to them for the last six months – almost impossibly good, but she could not forget the harsh reality of the world outside their walls. Medical skills were invaluable, and she would be a fool not to learn them while she could. She might not be as good at raids as the others, but she would learn to fix them when they came back with cuts and burns or broken bones.

She had not been training to be a nurse long, and though she had seen her share of injuries over the last year and a half – and even before then, as the daughter of a veterinarian – she still felt unease at the thought of the Governor's ruined eye. But the gore was only a small part of it.

'There's nothing to be afraid of.' Herschel was looking at her with a gentleness that made her heart soften. 'He can't do any more harm. And even if he could, I don't think he would. He's changed. You'll see. But you'll need to prepare yourself. The wound won't be pretty.'

Daryl stood outside the cell block, his crossbow in his hands.

'How are they?'

'They don't say much.' He shrugged. 'They're resting, mostly.'

Herschel turned to Beth. 'Are you ready?'

'Wait – Beth's going in with you?'

She frowned. 'Yes. Daddy's training me as a nurse – how else am I to learn?'

Daryl blinked. 'You ain't neither of you met this man. You don't know what he used to be like. I'll come with you; make sure it's safe.'

'You've already checked him for weapons.' Herschel's voice was quiet but firm. 'He won't hurt us. I've never needed an armed escort to tend to a patient before, and I don't need one now.'

'What about Maggie? You gonna let Beth get near him after that?'

Beth flinched, struggling to conceal the sudden sick feeling that gripped her.

Herschel's brows drew together. 'I won't pretend I've forgotten what he did to her. I never will. But he's a patient, and it's my duty to tend to him, same as any other. Now let us through.'

Daryl watched him steadily. Then he let out a sigh. 'All right. But you call me if anything happens.'

He unbolted the door and they went inside. Beth blinked a few times to adjust her eyes to the gloom of the cell block after the brightness of the yard outside.

A dark-haired young woman was sitting on a bench in the main walkway. She glanced up, unsmiling, as they came in.

'Tara,' said Herschel. 'I'm glad to see you're resting. Have you slept yet?'

'Not yet.'

'This is Beth, my youngest daughter. She'll be accompanying me from now on. If Philip consents, she'll help me treat his eye.'

'He's in the cell at the back.' Tara pointed behind her to the right, then nodded to Beth.

Beth smiled back.

Tara frowned slightly, not quite smiling. When she spoke there was something like anger in her voice. 'He doesn't talk much. Not even to me.' Then she grew serious. 'I want to thank you for taking us in. For taking him in. You'll see he's nothing like what you knew him as.' Her chin jutted. 'I'll make you see it even if he won't try.'

* * *

The Governor lifted his face towards them as they came to the doorway of the cell. He was sitting on his bed, his hands folded. A bandage was wrapped around his head, where his eyes used to be. The left side was bloodied. She couldn't help but stare; all too aware that he couldn't see her.

Up close he was pale and exhausted. His clothes hung loosely on him; his hair was dirty and unkempt.

She remembered those tense days in which she'd gone to bed every night fearing the next day he would come and raze the prison to the ground. Kill Herschel, kill Maggie, and everyone else she'd come to love.

She thought of Maggie after she got back from Woodbury; how it had felt to see her fierce, outspoken sister so silent and withdrawn. How could she stand here in the same room as him? How could Herschel regard him so calmly?

But she saw the way his face lifted as they came to his cell; seeking them out with eyes no longer possessed of sight.

Once again pity lumped in her throat.

She kept all these thoughts hidden as she waited for her father's instructions.

'Mr Blake,' Herschel said. 'I hope you're comfortable.'

His voice was dull. 'Just Philip.'

'All right. Philip, I'm here to treat your eye, if you'll let me. I've brought my daughter, Beth, to help. She's training to be a nurse. Is it all right with you for her to be here?'

The Governor shrugged.

'Good.' Beth thought she saw strain in Herschel's features; this was not much easier for him than it was for her. As she looked at the Governor again, more closely this time, she saw tension in his face and the set of his shoulders; he could not quite fully hide his pain. Somehow he must have been managing without any medicine or pain relief for days.

She could not see pain without responding to it. Some part of her dread and curiosity vanished, replaced by the intent to give him what aid she could.

'Beth is just going to take the bandage off now.' Herschel nodded to Beth.

She went to the Governor's side cautiously. Nerves were knotting in her belly; she dismissed them, telling herself it was because she wasn't used to nursing yet. His jaw was rigid as she put a hand to the side of his face to keep his head steady. His alert wariness was nearly a physical thing; her touch seemed to bring forth something almost like abjection in him. She was very gentle as she unwound the bandage. She felt rough stubble under her palm; he hadn't shaved in days. How would he manage to shave now that he was blind?

Did he know that she was Maggie's sister?

Then the last layer of the bandage came away, and the wound was revealed, hideous; raw and red. Beth didn't make a sound, just moving back and watching as her father examined it closely, then called to her to pass him a torch. Throughout the examination the Governor stayed stiffly upright, his fingers tense as though he was fighting the impulse to clench them.

'You're very fortunate that it's not infected,' Herschel told him. 'But we'll have to keep it bandaged for a while.'

When Herschel offered drugs to counter the pain, he refused bluntly. Nothing Herschel could say on the subject would move him. Beth listened in silence.

'Then at least let me test your sight,' Herschel said. He raised the torch. 'Can you see any light?'

'Nothing.' Neither the Governor's voice nor expression gave any sign of emotion.

Herschel put the torch away and spoke clearly. 'The tear ducts are intact. But the other nerves are damaged beyond repair. I won't say it isn't possible that they might heal over time. But it's very likely you will never have sight again.' He paused. 'I do have one bit of good news.'

The Governor waited; his expression unreadable.

Herschel's voice was very gentle. 'You'll still be able to cry.'

'Huh.' He let out a low laugh, neither bitter nor amused. The sound of it wrung Beth's heart.

'The eyes are expressive,' Herschel went on. 'You've not lost all the ways they can convey emotion. You'll be glad of that one day.'

His patient was silent.

Herschel turned to his daughter. 'Bethie; will you put a fresh bandage on?'

She went to his medicine bag and drew out a length of clean dressing.

The Governor spoke dully. 'You might as well put it right the way around my head.'

She was tender as she put on the fresh bandage.

Herschel picked up his medicine bag. 'That'll be all then, unless there's anything else you need?'

The Governor bowed his head, already retreating from them.

'The best medicine I can prescribe now is rest. We'll be back tomorrow morning to check on your eye again. Make sure to get plenty of sleep.'

Herschel and Beth went to the door.

'Thank you,' came that quiet voice. When Beth looked back his face was turned towards her. But even as she paused, his head drooped, and she felt him slipping, slipping somewhere far beyond reach, lost in his own thoughts and his private pain.


	2. Chapter 2

_A/N: Thank you to all the readers who are following this story – it's very encouraging to see it's sparked some interest. Especial thanks to those who have reviewed. I love hearing your thoughts, so please do review if you haven't yet._

 _Massive thanks to LadyIngenue for her help with pulling this chapter together and making it readable._

 _I'd also like to mention a short_ _music video_ _I've posted on YouTube featuring Beth and Philip. It's called 'Beth/The Governor – 'You Belong to Me''. The singer, Jo Stafford, features in S3E07 – it's her haunting voice playing on the record player while the Governor introduces Andrea to Mr Coleman. I hope you like the video._

* * *

 **Chapter 2**

As Beth and Herschel made their way back towards Cell Block C, the main gates opened and a tank came rumbling up the hill. Beth and Herschel both stopped to watch as it rolled into the entrance yard, shuddering to a halt. The silence that followed was tangible.

'The tank was theirs,' Herschel explained. 'They told us about it when Daryl found them outside the fences. Gave them some leverage for bargaining with the Council.'

There wasn't much that could be more valuable than a tank these days. Beth thought of how the young woman – Tara – and the Governor, must have been stuck inside the vehicle for days, cooped up together for hours on end with that deafening, shaking cage of metal all around them. There would have been nothing at hand to reduce his pain – and he would have refused it had it been there.

'Hopefully we won't need to use it,' Herschel went on. 'It could act as a deterrent; stop others from attacking us, if they ever find us.' He glanced back the way they'd come. 'We have one less invader to worry about, at any rate; the only one who knew about us.'

Beth turned to him, intent. 'You really think he's no longer a threat?'

His blue eyes didn't waver. 'Don't you?'

'I'm not sure. I don't know what to think.'

He smiled, putting a hand on her cheek. 'Good girl. That's a wiser answer than you know. You can make up your own mind. It will take time, but you're smart enough not to rush to conclusions.' He stepped back. 'I'll go and report to Rick now. Let him know what Philip was like.'

As she watched him go, Beth thought about how casually he'd used the Governor's name. She wasn't sure she'd ever be able to call him 'Philip', even to herself.

Then she thought of Maggie, and Glenn; neither of whom knew about the Governor's reappearance. Two days ago they'd both left on an extended supply run, and they weren't expected back for another three days. Beth thought of how Maggie had told her to study hard while she was away. How would Maggie react when she found out that the Governor was inside the prison walls – that the Council had voted to let him in? What would she think when she heard Beth had helped Herschel tend to the Governor?

'Beth.'

She started badly. Sasha was making her way towards her, carrying two crates.

'You look like you could use something to take your mind off things.' Sasha smiled her wry smile. 'Give me a hand with these?'

Gratefully, Beth took the upper crate and followed Sasha towards Cell Block B. She hadn't spent a lot of time with Sasha over the six months since she'd joined the prison community; but she liked her and trusted her. Sasha didn't say much, but when she spoke it meant something.

'What's in these crates?' Beth asked as they came to the supply room.

'Ammo, matches, plenty of tools. No medicine or food, though. We found it all in the tank.'

They put the crates on a long table and started sorting through them.

Sasha glanced up with a wry look. 'How's life as a nurse?'

Beth smiled back. 'Not very eventful. Daddy's been teaching me lots of theory mostly. I haven't had much chance to put anything into practice, yet.'

'Well, if you ever need a guinea pig for injections, you know where to find me. Better not ask Tyreese, though. For all his brawn he's never liked needles.'

They worked companionably for a few minutes. Beth sensed Sasha considering her.

'You just went to see him, didn't you? The Governor.'

'Yes.'

'What was he like?'

'Quiet. Withdrawn.' She hesitated. 'He wouldn't take any medicine when Daddy offered him some.'

Sasha was frowning as she opened a box of matches, checked its contents. 'I voted to take him in,' she said at last.

Beth glanced at her but didn't say anything.

'I'd made up my mind to do the opposite. I like to think I'm too practical to hold onto anger, or revenge. I didn't know him long – and at the time I had no idea about the things he'd done.' She laughed without humour. 'Of everyone here – everyone who joined either before or just after Woodbury that is, Tyreese and I probably have the least reason to hold a grudge against him.' Her face closed. 'But I know people from Woodbury who lost their sons and daughters, their mothers and fathers when he murdered them. So I was going to turn him and the girl away.'

She shook her head as she weighed a box of ammo. 'But I saw him standing there, with that bloodied bandage, I saw the way he held himself. He and the girl looked close to death … And I thought that it must have taken guts for her to come to us and ask for help on his behalf, after everything…' She let out her breath in a long whistling sigh. 'Anyway. I voted to take them in. I won't say any more than that. It's Council business. Maybe I've said too much already.'

Beth didn't say anything, keeping her eyes on the bullets she was sorting through. Though her expression stayed neutral, she couldn't help wondering how the votes had gone. Her father would have voted to let the Governor stay; she was sure of it. With Sasha's vote that would have been two people opting to let in Tara and the Governor, at least for a few days. But one more would have been needed to win the majority. With Glenn away that left Daryl, and Carol.

When Beth tried to imagine which way they'd voted, she came up short.

'Still,' Sasha went on, 'he's blind now. He's no longer a threat.' She looked at Beth, pensively. 'You've had more contact with him than I have. If you were on the Council in four days' time, when we decide whether to let him stay or not – which way would you vote?'

Beth was unprepared for the question. 'I don't know,' she said honestly. 'It's too early to tell.' She picked up a spanner, testing its weight in her hand. 'But if we turn him away, he won't survive long.'

There was nothing to say to that. Sasha gathered up some boxes of ammo and sorted them into their correct places. She leaned a hand on the shelf, her other hand on her hip, her head bowed.

'Back in Woodbury, when we heard how he'd massacred his own people, some of the others ran off and broke into his rooms. They trashed his place – it made them feel like they were hurting him in some small way. Paying him back. And then they found the fish tanks.' She shook her head. 'I couldn't believe it when I heard it.'

Beth felt a chill of distaste, remembering when Michonne had told Rick and the others about the heads; walker and human. Trophies. In that moment the Governor had begun to seem more monster than human.

But when she tried to match those thoughts with the figure sitting so defeated in his cell, she stalled. They didn't fit.

'What was he like? When you and Tyreese first arrived in Woodbury?'

Sasha whistled through her teeth softly. 'He seemed rational, like he had everything in hand. He asked us questions about the prison, and he was very interested in Rick. But he told us to rest before we drew up a map for him, when we were willing to do it right there and then. Maybe he smiled a bit too much. But he had me fooled. And I don't fool easily.' She smiled dryly. 'Perhaps we let our guards down. We were so desperate to find someplace safe.'

Everything Sasha said about the Governor fit with what Beth had heard. She remembered when Andrea had come to the prison. Her insistence that they could work this out: that there could be peace between the Governor and Rick. She'd believed the Governor could be reasoned with, despite knowing about the fish tanks, despite having seen him force Daryl to fight against his brother in the gladiator pit – as the people of Woodbury cheered for blood.

Suddenly another memory came into her mind, vivid and clear. Rick had been talking about how the Governor had pitted brother against brother in a fight to the death. He'd asked Herschel, 'What kind of sick mind does that?' And Herschel had replied, 'The kind this world creates.'

'We're done here,' said Sasha, startling Beth out of her thoughts. 'I'd better get on with a perimeter check. It's my turn.' Her mouth twisted downwards, and Beth pulled a face in sympathy. Stabbing walkers through the fence was never an enviable task.

* * *

As the afternoon waned, Beth went to look after Judith, and get some more studying done at the same time. Her father had found a few medical textbooks in the prison library and given them to her to help her understand the basics of anatomy and the practice of modern medicine. He'd given her set passages to read, and would be testing her on them the next day.

Judith was playing nearby with a set of measuring spoons. Her eyes narrowed and widened in alternating absorption and astonishment at the sounds and movements they made as she moved them about. Beth bit back a smile at Judith's latest expression of surprise, then looked back down at her anatomy textbook.

But try as she might to focus on the pages, the words seemed to slide and blur.

In her mind's eye she saw a figure very clearly, a seated figure semi-hunched on a prison bed, so close and yet so far away, both alluring and frightening in his self-enforced isolation. Even when she had been in the room with him she had felt him carefully preserving a barrier between him and all other human beings; even when she had touched his cheek and unwound the bandage from around his eyes.

The Governor was supposed to be unpredictable, violent, arrogant, swaggering and self-obsessed. But the man in the cell had been none of those things. He had seemed to lack all ego, all drive to anything other than to preserve his pain and maintain emotional and physical isolation.

What had happened to him?

Just then Judith gave the measuring spoons a particularly vigorous rattle, making Beth jump.

'Judith!' she said, teasingly, and Judith beamed at her.

'Are you telling me I should be studying?' With a laugh, she turned back to the textbook.

* * *

The next morning she listed the major blood vessels she'd learned while Herschel listened approvingly. They both worked on planting a new crop of tomatoes as she talked, keeping their backs turned towards the fences where the walkers gathered. It was a warm, clear day; it would have been almost perfect if not for the muttering and growling that was always just within earshot.

As Beth continued her recitation, Herschel smiled to himself; a warm glow of affection settling in his chest. Over the long winter he'd been worrying about her. She'd been growing emotionally distant, her eyes deadening a little more each time she'd had to turn her 'Days Without An Accident' chart back to zero. But since she'd come to him asking him to train her as a nurse, she'd begun to seem just a little more like the Beth he always saw when he looked at her; the one she'd been before her mother and brother had died and things had started falling apart.

He thought he knew why. Being a nurse gave her some semblance of control. Things wouldn't just happen to her. Not anymore. By helping people, she'd be able to do something; something vital and important.

Her young life had promised to be something so different. He would give anything to be able to turn back the clock for her, to set the world to rights. She'd always had a good voice; people liked to listen to her singing. They still did. Maybe she could have made a career of it.

But then she glanced up and gave him a smile so natural, so tender, that he stopped his thoughts right there. It was no use dwelling on what might have been. What he and his daughters had now, in this place, was good – and he was grateful.

Once the planting was done he and Beth began the walk back up the hill. They were passed by a small group of people from Woodbury, and he caught a mutter about 'the Governor', and a curse as they went by. Glancing at Beth, he saw that she had heard too. Yesterday as they'd left Philip and Tara's cell block, there had been people crossing the courtyard, shooting dark looks at Cell Block A. So far glowering and muttering had been the worst of it, but he was not sure how things would go if the Council decided to let Philip and Tara stay permanently. And then there was Michonne to consider. Only a few days ago she'd taken off to search for the Governor, not realising he was soon to show up at the prison gates.

But of most concern to him was Maggie. In a few days she would be back, and he'd have to face the look in her eyes when she learned that the man she most hated and feared was staying inside the prison walls.

He faltered, his earlier peacefulness draining away.

Then Beth took his arm and squeezed it. 'Don't worry, Daddy. It'll be all right.'

* * *

Beth spent the next couple of hours cutting up old but clean sheets to make bandages. Then Herschel came to ask her to accompany him to Cell Block A. Outside the cell block, Herschel asked Carol – who was on guard duty this time – if there had been any visitors since he and Beth had come yesterday.

'Only Rick, bringing food. Everyone else stays clear.' With a searching look at Beth, Carol opened the door for them.

When they emerged into the cell block it was to find Tara and the Governor sitting opposite each other at the metal table in the middle of the main room, a dull silence lying heavy between them. They both looked up as Beth and Herschel stepped in. Tara's dark gaze turned watchful while stillness descended over the Governor's face.

Each of Beth's footsteps rang loudly in her own ears.

'Afternoon, Tara,' said Herschel, nodding. 'Philip.'

Tara nodded back but didn't speak.

The Governor rose to his feet, his hands resting on the table as he stood. He held himself stiffly, apart; Beth sensed that he felt caught out. They had timed their visit earlier than yesterday.

It was still a shock to see the bandage covering his eyes – the bandage she'd applied herself – and to be reminded that his blindness was permanent.

'Herschel,' he said quietly. Then, 'Beth.'

There was a moment's silence. Tara was looking up at him steadily, her eyes narrowed.

'Are you ready to have me take another look at your eye?' Herschel asked.

'Yes.' But he hesitated. Herschel went to his side swiftly.

'Here, let me take your arm.' Then he turned back to Beth. 'Why don't you stay and talk to Tara awhile, while I tend to Philip?'

The two men walked side by side to the cell, one upright; tall and strong but reliant; the other stooped and guiding.

Tara and Beth watched them go. Beth couldn't help remembering those early days after Herschel's amputation in which she'd guided him about the prison block, before they'd found crutches for him.

'He still wants to leave,' said Tara, once the two men had gone into the cell. Her eyes glittered with suppressed emotion. Then she looked up at Beth. 'You can sit, if you like.'

Beth sat down on the bench opposite Tara's, her knees pressed together and her hands clasped neatly. The two young women watched each other carefully.

Tara was a few years older than Maggie, Beth guessed. Something about the set of her chin and her hunched shoulders suggested wary defensiveness. She was still too thin from the long journey to the prison, and there were shadows of exhaustion under her eyes. Just now when she'd spoken about the Governor there had been anger in her voice – something almost like blame. And yet there'd been a fierce loyalty and protectiveness that Beth couldn't help admiring.

After eyeing Beth steadily, Tara spoke. Her voice was quiet, cautious. 'You've lived here six months, right?'

'That's right.'

'And you haven't had any trouble since…' She faded out, glancing in the direction of the Governor's cell.

Beth took a moment to answer. How much had the Governor revealed to Tara about his own past? 'No. No more than usual.'

'There are a lot of you. Did you take in the people from Brian's old community?'

Beth stared. 'Brian?'

'Oh, right. You wouldn't know that name. Brian Heriot. That's what he called himself when we first met him.' She looked down, her arms folded defensively. She spoke with an effort; speaking of the past pained her. 'He just turned up out of the blue. I was with my dad, my sister and my niece, Meghan, holed up in our old apartment. Brian saw Meghan in the window and made his way up to us. He looked like he'd been on the road for months. Another few days would have finished him.'

Beth realised she was holding her breath.

'We let him in – after asking for his weapons of course.'

'He just handed them over?'

Tara raised an eyebrow at Beth's interjection. 'Without a word. He didn't say much for the rest of the evening, either. We gave him the apartment opposite for him to spend the night in. He was supposed to be off again the next day, but somehow he stayed.' Her face creased with emotion. 'He – he saved my life when my dad died. We didn't know that people could still turn even if they weren't bit.'

Beth shivered, imagining the scene. 'How awful. To have found out like that.' She was thankful she had been spared such an experience; that Herschel had pulled through after the amputation.

'And what happened after that?' she prompted gently. 'Did you leave your home?'

'Yes. We didn't want to stay. Brian came with us. We wouldn't have stood a chance without him.' The words seemed to be tumbling out of Tara now. Beth remembered it must have been at least a week since Tara had spoken for a significant amount of time with anyone but the near-silent Governor.

'We set out on the road, in my dad's old truck, but pretty soon it ran out of fuel. Then we walked. We had a bad run in with biters – but somehow we got away. And then we met Martinez.'

'Martinez!' The name was familiar to Beth from stories of Woodbury. 'So he was still alive?'

Tara frowned. 'Yes. He'd started his own community. He let us join; Brian too.'

'Martinez didn't recognise him? Recognise … Brian?'

'He did. But he decided to give him a chance. He saw that Brian loved my sister, and that he loved Meghan like she was his own daughter.'

Beth listened quietly, not quite able to accept those words. But the conviction in Tara's expression kept her from showing any of her doubt.

'We stayed in that camp for two weeks. But it wasn't safe. Biters got in and killed an old man. So we knew we had to leave, find someplace safe. And that's when we heard the radio message.'

Tara had gone very pale; a shiver ran up Beth's spine.

'What did it say?'

'It told us to go to Terminus. That we'd find sanctuary there.' Her voice twisted. 'That we'd survive.'

'Terminus?'

'It used to be an old railway terminal. It's a week's journey north of here. They had maps along train tracks. We didn't trust the radio message, so we prepared an ambush, in case it wasn't a sanctuary at all. We had a tank and lots of fighters. Brian volunteered to go into Terminus and scout it out, and my sister Lilly went with him. Meghan and I – ' her eyes screwed up in hurt – 'we stayed locked up in our caravan. We were supposed to wait there until the place was safe. But we were taken hostage and marched to Terminus while it was still dark. Our walkie-talkie was taken from us – we couldn't contact Brian or Martinez.

'They locked us up in an old train car – and then they took Meghan from me. I was alone in the dark for hours. I couldn't get out. After hours of nothing I heard gunshots, and I knew my people were on their way. I started yelling for help – someone opened the doors. It was Brian. Lilly had run off, looking for Meghan. Brian and I split up to find them.' Her voice heaved. 'I looked everywhere but there was nothing but biters, and the dead. Everyone in Martinez's group was dead – everyone. I found Brian on the ground. He had blood pouring from his eye. When I asked about Lilly and Meghan – he told me it was too late. They were dead.'

Without hesitation, Beth rose and went to sit at Tara's side, taking her hand and gripping it tightly. Tara sniffled and squeezed her hand back. A minute later she was able to continue.

'We ran from Terminus. We took the tank. Later that night he told me about his past; told me everything.' She shivered. 'I nearly abandoned him. But I couldn't. I decided we would go to the prison. From what he'd said the people there seemed to have a good place. I hoped they'd take us in, once they saw what he'd gone through; how he'd never hurt them again.' She smiled without emotion. 'And so here we are.'

'This time you've come to a good place,' said Beth. 'Not like Terminus.' Yet she couldn't help remembering the curses people had muttered earlier, aimed at the Governor. Were the Governor and Tara really safe here?

Tara's smile lost its chilliness, became a little sad. 'I hope so. Your father's been so kind to us – and you have too. But I saw the looks everyone was giving us when we came in. The looks they were giving _him.'_ Then she sighed. 'But what else could anyone expect? After everything he did…'

Beth hesitated. 'And you really don't think he can do those things any more?'

Tara stared. 'Didn't you see him just now? It's not just his eye. It's like he's got no fight left in him.' She drew in a deep breath. 'When he told me the things he'd done – done as 'the Governor' – it was like he was talking about a different person. You don't know what he was like when he found my sister and me – maybe you'll never know. But that man – the man who loved Lilly and Meghan – I could never imagine him doing the things the Governor did. That's all gone, now.' She looked both sad and angry. 'Anyone who doesn't see it is a fool.'

Beth wasn't so sure; but she couldn't help but respond to Tara's loyalty.

'Do Rick and my father know what you've told me? What happened to him?'

'They know about my sister and Meghan. That they're dead – and that he loved them.' She looked at Beth keenly. 'Your father believed me. He can see that Brian's changed.' Then she sighed. 'I'm not so sure about Rick. And he's the one I have to convince. He doesn't know what to do with us. No one does.'

They were both silent for a while.

'Lilly was a nurse, you know. My sister.'

For a second Beth was uncomprehending. A chill went through her. 'She was?'

Tara nodded, looking at her steadily. 'If he holds himself back around you – even more than with your father – that's probably why.'

Beth couldn't have spoken even if she'd wanted to. She had known loss herself, plenty of it. But when she thought of all the ghosts the Governor seemed to have brought into the prison – those more recent ones of the last few weeks, but also those from before, from Woodbury, all of them shackled to him – her chest felt tight.

She remembered how cautious he'd been yesterday when she'd touched his cheek as she unwound the bandage. The last person to touch him like that must have been Lilly.

Just then Herschel came back into the hallway. 'We'll be on our way, then.'

Beth rose at once, grateful for his timing. She said a warm goodbye to Tara, then quickly followed her father back outside, out of that place full of loss and memory, into the uncomplicated warmth of the afternoon.


	3. Chapter 3

_A/N: Thanks to LadyIngenue for her excellent notes._

* * *

 **Chapter 3**

That evening at dinner Beth filled her plate with food and went to sit by Bob Stookey. He'd joined the prison community a couple of weeks back and was slowly settling in. He gave her a wide smile as she joined him.

'Good to see you, Beth. You make sure to tell your father something for me. The next time there's a supply run, I'm going on it. I want to start earning my keep. You be sure to tell Herschel that; maybe he'll be good enough to bring it up with the Council.'

'I will,' she promised. She ate slowly. 'You were out there a long time. Did you ever hear of a place called Terminus?'

He frowned. 'Now that you mention it; yes, I did. One of the people I was travelling with: she said she saw a sign on a train track once, but decided not to go there.' He looked at her curiously. 'Why ask?'

'Tara: the woman we brought in yesterday. She says she went there.'

At her tone he laid down his cutlery. She told him briefly about the ambush, Tara being kidnapped, how she and Brian – the Governor – had been the only ones left alive.

Bob shook his head slowly. 'It sounds like he got rid of a nasty place.'

Beth looked at her plate. 'That's what I thought.'

* * *

She spent the following morning helping her father gather plants with medicinal properties. More and more of the medicine they found nowadays was past its use-by-date; and Herschel was insistent it was time to start making use of the natural remedies at their disposal. As the sun started to dip from its zenith, they made their way across the baking concrete of the entrance yard. Beth carried a cloth, bandages and a bowl of clean warm water. They were on their way to tend to the Governor again, and Beth couldn't help feeling apprehension after the revelations of the day before. The image she'd held of him for the last six months was slowly being challenged; she didn't feel ready to face the implications. Seeing him again, she was frightened she would have no choice but to do so.

'Herschel!'

They both turned around at once. A woman was running towards them. Beth recognised her as one of the survivors from Woodbury. 'It's Jake; he's having another asthma attack. Come quickly; please!'

Herschel started forwards; then hesitated, looking at Beth with worry.

Beth guessed his thoughts at once. 'I can go,' she said. 'I won't be alone.' Not like Maggie, she thought, though she didn't say it. 'Tara will be there; and Carol will be just outside. I know what to do; it'll only take a few minutes. Now go and help Jake.'

He nodded with reluctance. 'All right. But call Carol if you need to. Find me as soon as you're done.'

She watched him hurry away with the woman, then continued to Cell Block A. Carol was wary of Herschel's absence, but agreed to let Beth in, with a warning to take care. She opened the door and Beth stepped into the cool darkness of the main gallery.

It was the worst of the cell blocks. There were cells on both sides of the room, and the bars seemed to press close. Despite the high windows, the room was badly lit, with scarcely any sunlight getting through the windows. This would have been death row: the thought made her shiver.

There was no one in sight. She took a few steps forward, looking into the empty cells on either side of her. A raised voice from the Governor's cell made her jump.

'Goddammit! Can't you get it into your thick, _stupid_ head? If you won't stay, neither will I.'

Beth stalled, not wanting to intrude. But now Carol had shut the door behind her; and if she knocked she would be discovered.

She heard the Governor's voice, quiet but steady. 'You're the only one who wants me here.'

'You mean that you don't want to be here.' Tara's voice became sad, pleading. 'You think there's nothing left for you. But there could be. This place could be it; if you'd just let it. After all the searching, we've found a place where we can just be.' Her voice began to break, high and trembling. 'Lilly and Meghan … I can't stand it that they're not here with us. But they died looking for a place like this. They died so we could find it. If you just throw that away –'

Beth felt her insides turn cold with pity and sympathy. She couldn't have moved if she'd wanted to.

'In two more days there'll be another vote. This is our chance to convince them to let us stay. If you'd just _say_ something –' She broke off. 'Just think about it,' she said at last. 'Please. For Meghan and for Lilly if not for me.'

He was silent.

Tara came out of the cell, her dark brows drawn together; her shoulders hunched and weary. Halfway down the gallery she saw Beth and started.

'I'm sorry,' said Beth quickly. 'I didn't mean to eavesdrop.'

Tara didn't answer for a while, watching Beth quietly. 'Maybe it's good you heard,' she said at last. 'Where's Herschel?'

'He was called away. It was an emergency.'

Tara nodded. 'Thank you for yesterday. For listening.'

Beth felt a rush of sympathy. 'I was glad to.'

They smiled at each other shyly. Then Tara waved towards the cell. 'I guess you're here to check up on him.'

'Should I come back another time?' Beth half-hoped Tara would say yes. But Tara only shook her head and disappeared into her cell.

Beth continued down the hall, her skin going cold with nerves.

She stopped at the doorway and looked in to see him sitting on his bed, his head bent, his hands clenched at his sides. He was thin, his face drawn and gaunt. He looked exhausted; as though he hadn't slept properly in days. In the set of his face and shoulders she saw a deep grief, too recently stirred to be easily hidden, though he tried.

She had to look away for a moment. Yesterday she'd been sceptical when Tara had talked about how he'd loved her sister and her niece. Now it was difficult to doubt her.

She forced herself to be calm. 'May I come in?' She was intensely conscious that this was the first time she'd spoken to him.

'Herschel's not here?' Was she imagining it, or was there was a hint of dread in his voice?

'He was called away for an emergency. But I hope I can change a bandage by myself.'

His lip lifted very slightly; then he bowed his head, remote once again.

'Is it all right if I do it?' she prompted.

His voice was barely more than a murmur. 'Yes.'

First she set down her bowl of water on the small table in the corner, and wet the cloth in it. She went to his side and carefully untied the bandage. Very gently she washed away the blood which had dried underneath and around his eye, taking care to avoid touching the sensitive, painful spots. His head was tilted away from her touch and she saw that his jaw and throat were tense.

She wondered if he knew she'd overheard his talk with Tara – but she didn't dare bring it up.

'The wound's healing well,' she said carefully. 'In a few more weeks you'll be able to leave off the bandage.'

He didn't speak. Yet she saw the answer written plainly in his expression: It makes no difference.

Her hands were hasty and unsteady as she applied a new bandage. She spoke almost in a rush. 'You're not the only one who's changed. We have, too; all of us.' She kept her eyes fixed on her fingers as she spoke. 'Maybe you won't have to leave. Maybe you could stay.' She tied the knot quickly and stepped back. 'I'll be back tomorrow.' Then she gathered up the bowl and left without looking at him.

* * *

Later that afternoon Beth sat in her room, keeping an eye on Judith while attempting to memorise a list of muscle groups. But her mind was too full to concentrate on the textbook and she quickly gave up.

'Hey.'

Beth looked up from helping Judith stack cups. Daryl was standing in the doorway. His watchful expression made her heart sink.

'Maggie and Glenn are back.'

'Are they –'

'Everyone's back safe.' He paused. 'Rick and your dad are talkin' to 'em now.'

Beth's stomach plummeted. Rick would be telling Maggie about the Governor.

Daryl looked at her with quiet understanding. 'How is she? The girl; Tara.'

'She's all right. Shy. She's been through a lot. She wants to stay here.'

Daryl's eyes narrowed, his voice staying neutral. 'What about him?'

Beth looked down. 'I don't know.'

Daryl was quiet for a while. 'Glenn ain't gonna like hearin' what Rick tells him. But he wasn't there. If we'd turned 'em away…' He studied the floor. 'They weren't gonna last another day.'

Beth gazed at him in surprise. He must have voted to take Tara and the Governor in, at least for a short time. 'Do you regret letting them stay?' she asked quietly.

He shrugged. 'It'll make it harder to turn 'em out again, if it comes to that.' His face was closed now; and she knew better than to probe him any further. 'Better go,' he muttered at last, turning to leave.

The next half an hour was unbearable. She tried to distract herself by playing with Judith, but her thoughts always returned to Maggie. How was Maggie feeling right now, as she found out that her old enemy was inside the walls of her home? And what would she think when she heard Beth had helped nurse the man who'd threatened to rape her?

'Beth.' As if summoned by her thoughts, Maggie stood in the doorway. She looked weary and tense, watching her sister with a keen green gaze.

Beth's first instinct was to run to her and embrace her. But she couldn't; confused emotions tightened her stomach, making her feel almost sick.

'I'm so sorry,' she said, not quite able to look at her sister.

Maggie didn't say anything; just watched Judith playing with her stack of red cups in the corner of the room. Then she sat down on the opposite end of the bed, her head bowed.

The two sisters sat in silence for a while.

Beth swallowed; her throat suddenly dry. 'I went with Daddy to help treat him.'

Maggie sighed. 'I know. Daddy told me.' She paused. 'I'm not angry, Beth. You're a nurse now, and Daddy's a doctor. It's what you have to do.'

Beth looked at her sister at last and saw that Maggie meant what she said. She felt such a deep relief that she nearly cried. Maggie scooted over and put an arm around her shoulders.

'You didn't really think I'd be angry with you?' She let out a sigh. 'I'm just glad I didn't have to see him, or be here when they brought him inside. I didn't have to sit somewhere while they voted, knowing they'd decide to take him in.' She closed her eyes. 'It was the right thing to do; but I don't have to like it.' When she spoke next her voice was low, uncertain, as if she didn't know what to feel. 'Is it true what they say? That he's blind?'

'Yes. He probably won't ever see again.'

Maggie was quiet. 'I ought to be glad, but I'm not. Too much has happened… If the Council votes to let him stay, I'll have to see him. I don't know if I can bear that.'

Beth took her hand. 'But he won't see you.'

Maggie nodded, but her mouth was tight and hard, her eyes pained.

* * *

'Rick.'

It was the first time the Governor had spoken to him since Rick had questioned him outside the walls. Rick paused in the act of setting two plates of food on the table. He'd prepared them himself from the pot that would feed the rest of the community; he wasn't prepared to test just how far people's tolerance towards their new guests would stretch.

'Yes?'

Blake had risen to his feet, his face turned in the direction of Rick's voice. 'You have a good place here. I don't just mean the fences.' He looked down, pausing for a moment. He spoke quietly; each word an effort. 'You have the tank now. But it won't be enough. There'll always be people out there; waiting to take what you have.

'Back when Woodbury… I kept a hidden cache. It was in the middle of nowhere. It had weapons… a stockpile. Not even Martinez knew about it. Bring a map next time you come. I'll give you the location.'

Rick frowned, surprised. But he said nothing, waiting for what Blake might say next.

Blake hesitated. 'Have you been to Woodbury? Since…'

'No. It's overrun.'

'The weapons locker was pretty secure. The medicine store, too.'

'Why are you telling me all this?' Rick asked coolly, scrutinising Blake's face.

Blake said nothing, his mouth tight with exhaustion.

Rick watched him narrowly. 'I'll bring a map tomorrow.'


	4. Chapter 4

_A/N: Thanks to Lady Ingenue for her suggestions for this chapter._

* * *

 **Chapter 4**

Halfway down the hills to the back of the prison was a single plane tree. Its branches spread wide and its leaves had burst out only two weeks ago with the coming of spring. Underneath its boughs there was a hushed quiet, even in the wind. Beth walked back and forth in the shade, too restless to wait in the prison.

A few minutes ago the Council meeting had begun, the meeting which would decide the fates of Tara and the Governor. She couldn't understand why she felt so keyed up. It was a different feeling to the one she was used to. Whenever Maggie drove outside the prison walls on a supply run she felt a deep anxiety in the pit of her stomach that wouldn't fully ease until Maggie was back safely. And then there had been the months of being constantly on the move before they'd found the prison, when death threatened every second of the day as they were pushed from place to place by walkers and hunger.

This feeling wasn't about the constant threat of death, or fear for her loved ones. This was more like the restless feeling that would build up hour by hour when waiting for exam results. But this was more personal than any exam result had ever been.

She stared down the hill into the woods, not seeing the walkers crowded along the fence. The minutes crept by until at last she turned and headed back up the hill, needing to find something – anything – to keep her occupied. She set to work mucking out the shed that did for a stable. The smell of horses was comforting, taking her back to the days when her father had taught her to ride.

Whatever decision the Council made – whether they stayed or went – it wouldn't affect her. Her life would continue as it always had, whatever happened. She knew the Council would make the right decision. And yet as she imagined the two figures walking back down the hill, into the forest, the young woman leading the blind man, she felt shaken – almost angry. It would be sending them to certain death.

* * *

As she carted out soiled hay, she went over the previous day's events in her mind. Rick had sent a scouting party to Woodbury to check that it was still unclaimed, and to assess how they might lure out or evade the walkers with which the former community was now overrun. Beth had worked alongside Maggie, digging a channel inside the fences which would eventually be part of a pump system providing clean running water for the prison. Maggie looked as though she hadn't slept well, and she was quieter than usual, but she greeted her sister with a smile that fully reached her eyes. After a few minutes of digging in silence, Maggie leant on her spade and spoke in a low voice.

'Glenn still isn't taking it well. He volunteered to clear the fences on his own.'

Looking down the hill, Beth could see Glenn at the outer fence, driving his iron bar into one walker skull after another.

'Have you asked him about the vote tomorrow?'

'Not yet.'

When midday came they went back up to the main yard for a brief rest and food, then carried on digging.

At about two o'clock, Herschel appeared on the path. He called to Beth, who reached for Maggie's hand.

'Are you sure it's ok?' She watched Maggie closely. If Maggie didn't want her to go, then she wouldn't. But some secret part of her wanted to go with Herschel.

'Go on,' Maggie said, digging forcefully. 'Don't keep Daddy waiting.'

Beth was only halfway up the hill when she heard running feet. She stopped to let Maggie catch up with her.

'I've been thinking about the woman. Tara. I want to talk to her.'

Herschel looked at his eldest daughter's raised chin, the fierce green eyes so like her mother's. 'All right.'

* * *

The door to the cell block opened. As if from a great distance Philip heard Herschel's heavy, lopsided footfall and Beth's lighter tread. Then he frowned as he listened more closely. There was someone else with them.

'Tara,' said Herschel in greeting. 'I've brought my elder daughter, Maggie. She wanted to meet you.'

Philip did not hear Tara's reply. His fingers were gripping the frame of his bed so tightly that the metal edge cut into his palms. How could Herschel bring her here? A wave of nausea made his head swim. The intermittent pain of his eye throbbed badly, pulsing through his skull and jaw.

'Beth?' he heard Herschel say.

As Beth undid the bandage and Herschel examined the wound, Philip could not block out the low murmur of Maggie's voice, too quiet for the words to be made out. When Herschel questioned him about his levels of light perception, and the pain, it took an effort to understand the questions, let alone answer them. Beth's gentle hands washing the wound were a kind of torture. With her sister sitting just outside he was reminded more than ever how little he deserved Beth's tenderness. It was nothing more than she would give any patient in her care – but he wanted none of it. When she and Herschel had come to treat him that first day, he'd known at once who they were – and their kindness had left him more wretched than ever.

'You'll both be called before the Council tomorrow morning. Someone will come and take you to the right place.' Herschel hesitated. 'I'll check your eye again afterwards, regardless of the decision reached.'

The words sunk into Philip's pain-hazed mind. He felt at sea. There was so much he wanted to say – and so much he could never say. In the end all he said was, 'Thank you,' conscious of how hoarse his voice was from disuse.

In the silence that followed Beth retied the dressing, her fingers quick and careful.

'Until tomorrow,' she said. Then she and her father left the cell, and a few minutes later were gone, Maggie with them.

Hours later, while sitting with Tara eating the food Rick had brought them, Philip asked what Maggie had wanted to know.

'She asked me how I met you, and what brought us here. And she asked why I stayed with you after you were blinded.'

He could feel her eyes on him, as they so often were.

'She didn't talk about Woodbury,' Tara said at last, and he turned his face away.

They finished their meal in silence.

* * *

For the rest of the afternoon, Beth had set herself to read yet another chapter of her textbook. But it was impossible to concentrate. Carol came by to drop off Judith. She looked down at Beth thoughtfully. 'You're thinking about the vote tomorrow. It's on everyone's minds.'

Beth looked up at her in silence.

'It would be a shame to turn Tara away,' Carol said after a pause, stooping to restack Judith's tumbled pile of red cups. 'Given time, she could be a real asset to our community.'

'Did you vote to take them in, the first time?'

Carol glanced up sharply, her pale eyes moving across Beth's face. 'I didn't.'

Beth's expression remained unchanged. Then she nodded. 'And now?'

Carol 's thin mouth pursed, her voice hard, on the defensive. 'I'll just have to see what they say.' And Beth knew that the conversation was at an end.

* * *

As she sat with Judith, her thoughts went back to the cell where Blake sat, alone and desolate. At some moment – she hardly knew when – she had stopped thinking of him as the Governor. Today, as she'd tended to him under her father's watchful eye, she'd been almost taken aback to see how Maggie's presence had affected him. Self-loathing had rolled off him in waves and he'd cringed when she'd touched his face. She'd almost said, 'I'm sorry' – but she'd bitten her tongue just in time. What had she to be sorry for? Blake deserved every ounce of discomfort Maggie's presence gave him. But he had felt that discomfort – unfeigned – and she could no longer think of him as the Governor.

If Tara and Blake were allowed to stay, things at the prison would become more complex than ever. Rancour and grievances which had been grudgingly suppressed while Blake was kept out of sight were not likely to stay buried when he was allowed to leave his cell block. She thought of Glenn stabbing walkers through the fence. He'd been avoiding her and her father since yesterday. If Blake was allowed to stay would Glenn ever forgive them?

And what about Tara? So far she had been stubbornly loyal to Blake. If they stayed, this loyalty would make her just as much a pariah as him. Would she be safe inside the prison, when so many people wanted to do him harm – and she refused to leave his side? But whatever might happen inside the prison, it had to be safer for Tara than outside the walls, where she would be alone, guiding a blind man. If the Council voted to cast them out it would be Blake's death sentence – but it would be Tara's too if she refused to abandon him.

That night she lay awake for hours, too restless to sleep. When at last she gave way to exhaustion, she slept fitfully. She dreamt that she was sitting by Blake, taking off his bandage, to find gaping black holes where his wounded eyes were. 'Why did you keep the heads?' she asked. He said, 'I liked to look at them. They kept me sane.' His expression grew pensive, complacent. Something was wrong with her vision: she was surrounded by a strange greenish light that sifted back and forth, filtered through glass. He regarded her fondly, a smile on his lips. 'You were always my favourite.' And she realised she was in a fish tank.

She woke with a cry, sweating and trembling. It took a long time to rid herself of that dream. When she next woke grey light fell across her bed as dawn paled the sky.

* * *

She was sent to bring Tara and Blake to the library. As she walked to Cell Block A she was painfully aware of the people watching her, knowing where she was going – and she couldn't forget her dream, as hard as she tried to.

When she emerged into the cell block she found Tara and Blake standing in the middle of the gallery. Tara's arm was threaded through Blake's.

'Hey,' she said softly to Beth.

Beth smiled back. 'I'm to take you to the library, where the Council's waitin',' she said. 'Are you ready?'

'As we'll ever be,' said Tara somewhat grimly.

As they crossed the yard a few people muttered along the walls. Blake's expression remained unchanged, but Tara looked pained.

At last they reached the empty corridor where the library was.

'Here we are,' Beth said, and reached towards the library door. Tara moved forwards, then stopped when Blake stayed where he was. His expression was inscrutable.

'You go ahead,' he said.

Tara glanced at Beth in surprise. 'Ok.' She went into the room, closing the door behind her.

They stood alone in the passage. Beth felt her heart speed up. Her dream pushed at the edges of her mind, but she forced it back, her hands clammy as she pressed them together.

He spoke, his voice low. 'When Rick sends a group to Woodbury, ask him to check out the library.' He hesitated. 'I know you're training to be a nurse. The doctor there, she had a collection of textbooks.' Then he was silent.

Whatever she had expected it hadn't been this. She looked at him standing there, his height and broad shoulders seeming to fill the narrow corridor. She realised with a start that she felt no fear of him. He waited, his features impossible to read – and yet his wariness was like a physical thing, making her feel that she was less vulnerable than him. Without thinking, she laid a hand on his arm, tentative and shy. 'Thank you. I won't forget.'

He was still, his head tilting very slightly towards her hand, considering it in silence. Then she withdrew her hand, feeling her cheeks burning – glad that he couldn't see.

She stepped to the side and he moved past her, his hand running lightly along the wall until he found the doorway. He paused, half-turning towards her. He seemed about to speak – but then his lips tightened and he opened the door and went in, closing the door behind him.

* * *

The stable cleared out, she was left with nothing to do but take refuge in her textbook. The next hour was the slowest she'd ever known. She read the same sentences over and over without registering them, her indefinable anxiety creeping and tightening with each passing minute. At last, her breath catching, she heard her father's tread in the corridor.


End file.
